Harry Potter and the Arch of Memories
by Ashley Potter13
Summary: Harry returns to school for his 6 year.There is a still a threat that Voldemort is after Harry,and Harry is sure about it.Along the way,he find romance w Hermione and new challenges.READ&REVIEW!(i suck at summeries just read please!)CHAPTER 5 IS UP! HHR
1. Pity and Sorrow

**Chapter One: Pity and Sorrow**  
  
He walked down the narrow halls, seeking the right door to open, for that door would led him to complete his task...  
Lit candles with blue flames surrounded the walls. The room was in tranquillity, with nothing but the soothing sound of a soft woman's voice, singing peacefully to the boy. The soothing singing died away making the room full of piercing screams. The candles burst into red flames and a foul voice filled his mind.  
_"Murderer or victim...murderer or victim..."_ the voice said wickedly.  
  
The boy struggled fiercely, trying to break the painful chain which now was strapped around his body.  
_"Choose one...choose...choose..."_  
The voice was getting louder and faster; the patient was becoming tense, waiting for an answer. The voice seemed to be thrusting the boy though a veil and to an familiar arch...  
"NO! I WON'T! YOU KILLED THEM! YOU'RE THE REASON THEY'RE DEAD!" The boy battled though the voice, avoiding to get near the arch, wanting to break free and to kill him...to kill him even after he was dead. He would try until he was dead.  
He killed them, he would kill him...  
  
The scrawny sixteen year ole boy instantly sprang up in his bed. He was sweating like mad and his breathing was uneven. He looked around the room. It had been a dream. He had te same dream yesterday, and the day before, and the day before...  
The boy got up and walked around his room, running his hand in his hair. What did this mean? Should he tell someone? The boy snorted at the thought of telling someone. No one in this house would even talk to him, let alone notice him, and his friends would make a huge deal out of it and make him stay at his dreaded Aunt and Uncle's house for even longer.  
He wished he had someone who would listen to him and not make a big deal out of something. Actually, he thought, he did have someone like this, but his parents and his godfather were gone. Dead.  
He sighed and crawled back into bed. It wouldn't be too long until he went back to school. It wouldn't be too long, until he met his friends. And it wouldn't be too long until he would have to face him...  
  
"Listen, I didn't try to make that toilet explode in your face!"The scrawny sixteen year old boy ran through the house trying to avoid his monstrous cousin Dudley Dursley. Dudley chased after him knocking down the expensive vases and statues down.  
"I know you did it," Dudley yelled. "You used your wood thing!"  
"No! I didn't! Listen to " the scrawny boy was punched, SMACK!, into the face.  
"Why you little bi " The pair of them wrestled to the ground. The boy was no match for the huge Dudley Dursley and was easily beaten.  
"That's what you get for releasing your abnormality on me!" Dudley hustled off leaving the boy in pain.  
"YOU CAN'T EVEN SPELL ABNORMALITY!" the boy called after Dudley. It wasn't his fault the toilet had exploded; he couldn't control it...  
This scrawny sixteen year old boy, was not like regular sixteen year old boys. In fact, Harry Potter was far from normal.  
Harry Potter was a wizard.  
Harry laid on his back waiting for Aunt Petunia to come and yell at him for messing with her "little Diddykins." When no body came, Harry got up and went up to his room, if you can call his tiny box a room. He opened the window and searched the sky for his owl, Hedwig.  
Apart from being away from his school, Hogwarts, he missed his two best friends in the whole entire world, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. The only way he could communicate with them was with letters. Harry fell onto his bed, if you can call his scratchy cot a bed. Ron hadn't been writing back, which made Harry uncomfortable. Last time he hadn't got letters from his friends, his life had changed...  
Harry's only trace of family was killed by a Death Eater, which made Harry feel extremely low, on account of it was his fault. He was starting to fell that his friends had lost trust in him. Harry was never so unhappy before. He was partly relieved that Hermione had been writing; he had to stay in touch with at least one of them.  
Uncle Vermon and Dudley had been especially nasty to him this year. After what happened last summer, he wouldn't have been surprised if they fed him to Uncle Vermon's lawn mower. Though, Harry was shocked to come back and find that Aunt Petunia was waiting at the doorstep to give him encouraging smile. Aunt Petunia had been his mother's sister, maybe she wasn't too bad.  
  
"HARRY POTTER!" a voice called from downstairs. Harry sighed and walked downstairs.  
"So," Uncle Vermon spat at him.  
"So," Harry repeated cooly.  
"DO NOT TALK BACK TO ME!" Uncle Vermon hollered. Harry forcefully tried not to roll his eyes. "I know what you've been up to, boy, playing with that wand thing. I will not tolerate it! AND I know why been using it," Uncle Vermon said, his beady eyes fixed on Harry.  
"Yeah, I've been trying to use it on you," Harry muttered.  
"You've been using it because of the Lord Voldie thingy, and the dementoids AND YOU THINK YOURS SO COOL WITH YOUR WAND AND ALL, THAT YOU TRY TO SCARE OTHERS... well it's not going to work!" He paced back and forth. "One more abnormal thing, and your never going back to that school! AND THIS TIME I ABSOLUTELY MEAN IT!" Droplets of saliva sprayed Harry's face. "Now go to your room and don't come out!"  
Harry looked at Uncle Vermon with anger, and left the room.  
Harry went up to his room, where he found Hedwig waiting for him. "Hedwig," Harry said cheering up a bit. Attached to Hedwig were two notes. The first one was from was Hermione.  
  
Dear Harry,  
How are you? I great here. I'm so happy to tell you that I passed all of my  
O.W.L.S---- this wasn't a surprise for Harry  
----the only one I really did bad on was the History of  
Magic exam. I got five points off! Thanks to you, my Defense Against the  
Dark Arts exam went great! I got 8 O.W.L.S I sure you did great too. I hope the Dursley's aren't giving you a hard time---- if only they knew...  
-----I'll see you in Diagon Ally, if not there then on September 1st!  
Love,  
Hermione  
Harry put the parchment down and looked at the other envelope it was from Hogwarts, sending him his new lists of books and O.W.L.S results.  
Harry scanned the results:  
  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
The results in your O.W.L.S have arrived. We are pleased to inform that you  
have passed all the exams. It seems that Defense Against the Dark Arts was  
your strongest area of knowledge. We congratulate you once again.  
  
Professor M. McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
  
Attached you will find your results and the new book/supply list.  
  
Defense Against the Dark Arts- Umbridge- 98.2-O  
Charms- Flitwick- 97.2-O  
Care of Magical Creatures- Hagrid- 91.5-E  
Transfiguration- McGonagall-90.6.4-E  
Herbology- Sprout- 84.4-A  
Potions- Snape- 81.6-A  
Divination- Trelawney- 75.1-P  
Astronomy- Sinistra-73.1-T  
History of Magic- Binns- 71.3-T  
  
Harry looked at the results again. He knew that the History of Magic exam was going to be the lowest, because he hadn't even finished it. He was surprised to find that he had done such a wonderful job in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He and the rest of the school knew that he was good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he never thought he would have done so well. He had gotten six O.W.L.S! He smiled, his first true smile since he had come back to Privet Drive.  
He remembered what Professor McGonagall had said, he needed to get at least an "O" to become an Auror in all the classes and Harry quickly picked up the results again. He had gotten an "A" in Potions! He needed an "O"!  
  
Harry groaned deeply and the happiness left him quickly. Anger bubbled up inside him, and he chucked his results across the room. He could have kicked himself.  
He looked around for a note from Ron, but found nothing. Harry sat back on his chair; why hadn't Ron been writing? Harry really wanted to hear from him.  
Hedwig hooted half annoyed, half angry and flapped her wing really fast, blowing away all the papers on Harry's "desk."  
"Oh yeah," Harry said . "Let me get you something to eat." Harry rustled around the room looking for some owl treats. "I know it's in here somewhere," Harry continued talking to the owl as he scavenged his scratchy cot. "Crap, I think I left it downstairs! Hedwig stay here, don't move."  
Hedwig looked at him blankly.  
Harry slowly opened the door, looked both ways and stepped out. He slowly went down the stair, where he was relived to find out that the Dursleys were watching television.  
He slowly crept into the kitchen and found the owl treats laying on the ground. Dudley must have had a snack because they barley any left. He picked it up and then was shocked to hear loud screaming.  
Harry ran into the living room to find Hedwig flying through the room scaring the daylights out of the Dursleys.  
"BOY GET THAT RUDDY OWL OUT!" Uncle Vermon screamed. Harry called to Hedwig, as she flew to Harry's shoulder.  
Uncle Vermon breathed heavily, so heavily that Harry actually stepped back. "THAT IS IT! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I've told you a million times to keep this bird in your room "  
"But she probably got scared," Harry tried to explain.  
"I DON'T CARE! GO TO YOUR ROOM, AND YOU'RE AREN'T GOING TO THAT BLOODY SCHOOL!"  
Harry's nostrils flared anger, as he left the room with Hedwig. He was going back to that "bloody school" no matter what...  
  
Harry woke up at 5 A.M., got dressed, and packed all his things without making a peep. He crept into the living room, grabbed some paper and began to write.  
  
Uncle Vermon,  
I have gone to Diagon Ally to purchase my school supplies.  
I will stay there for the remainder of the summer. Just pick  
me up on the end of the term.  
Harry  
  
Harry knew that Uncle Vermon would be outraged, when he found out that Harry had gone, but Harry couldn't stay in this hell any longer. He read over his note and placed it on the desk. He searched his suitcase for some Floo Powder he had gotten last year, just in case.  
He picked up the round bottle, opened the top, and placed it back on the desk. He gathered his things and placed them in the small fireplace. He had no idea how he was going to get inside.  
Harry bustled into the fireplace; it was a difficult task. When he finally got inside, he remembered that he forgot the Floo Powder.  
Harry cursed under his breath. He could have kicked himself. He struggled out of the fireplace when his realized that he had made a mistake.  
Hedwig's cage had fallen to the ground making great noise.  
There was an uproar.  
"POTTER," Uncle Vermon yelled from upstairs; he knew that Harry was up to no good.  
Harry scurried around in the dark, picking up Hedwig's cage and the Floo Powder. He finally managed to get inside.  
Uncle Vermon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley ran into the living room. Harry grabbed a handful of Floo Powder while Uncle Vermon charged toward Harry.  
"Diagon Ally!" Harry loudly and then he dropped the Floo Powder. A green flame lit the room, as the Dursleys hollered. The next they knew was the Harry had left Number Four Privet Drive. 


	2. Flock of Red Heads

**Chapter Two: Flock of Red Heads**  
  
Harry fell on all fours, for he had just been transported to Diagon Ally. The elate was quiet and peaceful, he knew that the serenity wouldn't last long; the students and their parents would be here tomorrow to pick up their school supplies.  
Harry gathered his things and headed to Hogs Head. He rented a room, while the butler stared stupidly at his scar. He walked up to Number Six and opened the door. It smelled awkward, but it was ten times better then staying with the Dursleys.  
Harry unpacked his things and fell onto the bed. The first time all summer he felt lighthearted. Soon he would be reuniting with Ron and Hermione.  
Then pretty soon, they would be heading back to Harry's one true home.  
  
Harry wondered around Diagon Ally, scanning all the witches and wizards, trying to find a glimpse of Ron and or Hermione.  
"Harry!" a familiar high-pitched voice said. "Harry, over here!"  
Harry spun around, he had no idea who was calling him; no one looked familiar to him... He decided to that he had just imagined it and kept on walking.  
Harry passed Ollivanders, Hogs Head, and Florish and Blotts, but he couldn't find Ron nor Hermione anywhere. He had bumped into a round faced boy named Neville Longbottom, and Justin Flinch-Flinchey, and the hadn't seen them either.  
"Harry!" the high-pitched voice was back.  
Harry spun around again, but saw no one he knew. The was a large women talking very fast to her son, an old man who looked as if he was going to have a heart attack, and an extremely pretty girl who was beaming at him, broadly. Harry squinted his eyes to see who the girl was. He looked over his shoulders to see who the girl was staring at, but no one seemed to pay attention. The girl started running towards Harry. Before he knew it, the girl had flung her arms around his neck and started to talk very fast.  
"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you again! I missed you and Ron so much and I was just "  
"Hermione?" Harry asked astonished after she let go of him. Hermione wasn't the Hermione had remembered. Her brown, bushy hair was now shinny and straight. Apart from hair, Hermione's smile somehow made her face bright up.  
"Of course!" Hermione said. They squeezed through the public, and approached the candy shop, Sweaty Sweets.  
"Oh, well...er...you just look...different," Harry said, still struggling though the public. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Oh it's not different as in bad...just as in well... you I....er are you sure you want to get sweaty sweets?" Harry babbled on, changing the subject.  
"Oh, It's just the name," Hermione said. They walked in and got two Chocolate Frogs, and a Box of Bertie Botts Beans.  
Harry stared at her and finally said, "Have you seen Ron?"  
"No, I've been writing to him, but he never answered me," she said.  
"Same here," Harry said wondering why Ron hadn't replied to any if their letters. "Maybe he's been preoccupied."  
"Maybe," she said and took a bit out of her Chocolate Frog. "I wonder if he's come to Diagon Ally to "she looked out the window and pointed. "Harry look, it's Ron!"  
Harry looked out the window. Ron's flaming red hair was brighter then ever, so was his face. He was staring blankly at someone. Harry and Hermione quickly walked out of Sweaty Sweets to meet with Ron.  
"Hi, Ron!" Hermione said beaming at him.  
Ron didn't answer.  
"Ron?" Harry asked. He waved his hand up and down in front of Ron's bright pink face.  
"Huh? Wh I," Ron stammered. He looked at them. "Oh, yeah...hi you guys...er..." He was getting redder by the minute.  
"Ron what were you looking at?" Harry asked looking around.  
"Er...Nothing...I lets just get our book." Ron said fidgeting with long, mop-like hair. He didn't even seem to notice Hermione's new looks, or that Harry had grown as tall as him.  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione wandered in almost every place in Diagon Ally. They had a lot of catching up to do. Unlike Harry, Ron and Hermione had a wonderful summer.  
"Me and my parents went to America and oh my god New York is so amazing. I loved it!" Hermione told them. They entered Hogs Head and went up to Harry's Room. "What did you do Ron? Ron? RON!"Ron seemed to be staring into space.  
"Huh? Oh yes I agree," Ron said stupidly. Harry and Hermione exchanged confused looks. "Er...what were we talking about?"  
"What did you do this summer?"  
"Oh, we just you know hung out and oh yeah we went to visit my cousin. Quite fun, actually," Ron said.  
"You two had fun," Harry said. "I was stuck with the Dursleys with no letters from you Ron!" Harry said with a little anger.  
There was knock on the door. Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Fred and George stepped inside. Ron and Hermione sighed with relief; they were afraid Harry was going to blow his top at them like he had done last year.  
"HARRY! HERMIONE!" Mrs. Weasley squealed as she squeezed them tightly. "Oh, its so good to see you two again!"  
"Mum, stop trying to kill them!" Ron said. Mrs. Weasley let go of them.  
"Did you have a good summer, Harry?" Fred asked.  
"Well, it was " Harry started.  
"That's great! Say Hermione, do you want to try one of our brand-new, tasty candy?" George said as Fred bit his lip, trying not to laugh. Hermione looked at Fred with one eyebrow raised.  
"Do you guys think I'm stupid?" Hermione said.  
"Well " Fred said.  
"Don't answer that I know it's one of your tricks!"  
"I knew we should of tried it on someone stupid," Fred said. "Hey Ron! Do you want to try one of our brand-new, tasty candy..."  
"Tell me Harry," Mrs. Weasley continued. "Anything weird happen?"  
"Fortunately, nothing weird happened, but I'd happy if something did, because I had a really dull, not-so-great summer."  
"It couldn't be as bad as mine!" Ginny said. "That god-for-nothing Michael Corner kept filling me with desperate love letter, which were really bad. Apparently, Cho dumped him as well Oh my I'm so sorry Har "  
"It's okay," Harry said not caring. "I didn't even think about that at all. I was more interested in why Ron hadn't written to me."  
"Oh I know why he hadn't been writing," Ginny said grinning. "He was too busy drooling over "  
Fred and George fell to the ground howling with laughter.  
Apparently, Ron had just eaten one of Fred and George's "oh-so-tasty candies" and his face was swelling up like a balloon.  
"FRED! GEORGE!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. "THAT IS IT! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" She sounded like Uncle Vermon. "FIRST, YOU COME HOME TWO MONTHS BEFORE YOUR SUPPOSED TO. SECOND, YOU AREN'T EVEN THINKING WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES. THIRD, YOUR BLOWING UP MY SON. FOURTH, YOU'RE DRIVEN ME ABSOLUTELY MAD!"  
Fred and George looked has if they were going to crack up even harder now. Mrs. Weasley started screaming at them again. Harry and Hermione tried their best to ignore the "conversation." They didn't want to...interfere.  
"Oh, don't mind mum," Ginny said understanding why Harry and Hermione were uncomfortable. "She's been like this ever since Fred and George quit school. Mum and Dad were already stressed out because of Percy. And when they came home early, it was a complete fiasco."  
"Is Percy still acting like a...well " Harry said trying to find a positive word for Percy.  
"Idiot? Yeah. We thought he would have came back, now that Fudge is gone, but..." Ginny said.  
Fred and George set Ron right, still cracking up. "Hey, no hard feelings bro?" George asked.  
"I'm going to kill you," Ron said feeling his cheeks.  
"Alright, alright," Fred said. "We'll make it up to you. Hey, I've got an idea! How about you try one of our super mints?"  
"FRED! GEORGE!"  
"Damn, well I guess we can always try it on that Neville kid," Fred said, and the pair of them left the room.  
"Well, I'll see you two later," Hermione said as she got up. "My mum and dad are picking me up, and I have to leave as well. I'll see you soon."  
Harry and Ron waved at her, Harry still amazed how much she had changed.  
"Well, it's getting late, Harry," Ron said. " I'm just going to hit the hay. See you tomorrow." Time had flown very fast.  
Ron and his family were staying at Hogs Head too. They said that they were staying because Mr. Weasley had an "important meeting" there, but Harry knew for a fact, that they were staying to keep him company, but then again, the Ministry of Magic was falling apart.  
The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was...not up to Ministry of Magic standards. When Voldemort came back, the Ministry was dumbfounded when they found out that he was in the Department of Mysteries all along. The Ministry of Magic would be getting a new Minister soon...  
Harry changed and nestled into his bed and instantly fell asleep.  
  
During the remainder of their summer, Ron and Harry spent their days roaming the streets of Diagon Ally. A lot of new things had arrived and they were really cool things. Harry wanted to buy a few of them, but then restrained himself; Ron's family was what you call rich, and Harry didn't want to buy expensive, new things in front of him.  
Harry and Ron spent their nights catching up on homework, projects, and whatnot. They would head down to the parlor and chat with the rest of the Weasleys. Because of them, Harry's summer was now going great.  
Mr. Weasley finally returned from his "important business trip" and things were even better. He had brought many funny jokes along, and told them to the lot the day before the students went back to Hogwarts.  
"So then the kid tells the old man, ' Not to worry Mister, we can both be saved from the crashing airplane, because the World's Smartest Man took my backpack, instead of the parachute!'" Mr. Weasley told.  
Grins formed on the Weasleys' and Harry's faces. Harry was really enjoying himself.  
"So, Harry, how was your summer?" Mr. Weasley asked as everyone was enjoying their dinners.  
"Er...it was okay, I guess, how's everything at the Ministry?" Harry asked, hoping to find out who the new Minister was.  
"Still lots of mayhem," Mr. Weasley explained. "We still need to find a new Minister, and things are, well, not too great."  
"I bet everything will be alright," Harry said.  
Mr. Weasley nodded, but he still looked uncertain.  
As the night became more dark, Mrs. Weasley sent them upstairs. "You all need lots of read, you have to wake up bright and early tomorrow "  
"But mum, why do we have to sleep this early?" George complained. It was 12.30A.M  
"Did you pack everything Ron? Harry? Ginny where's Ginny? Did you pack?" Mrs. Weasley continued, ignoring George.  
Everyone settled down, crawled into bed, and fell asleep. Images of Hogwarts, its teachers except Snape the Quidditch field and Ron and Hermione filled Harry's head.  
A smile spread across his face.  
  
The next morning, Mrs. Weasley woke each of them up, and told them to get ready. Harry scratched his eyes, it seemed like he had only slept for an hour.  
After a great deal of strength, Harry pulled off the covers and got ready. He joined Ron, Fred, and George and headed downstairs.  
Mrs. Weasley had cooked up a whole buffet. Harry didn't know where to start. The bunch stuffed themselves with eggs, cereal, toast, fruit, bacon, pancakes, waffles, milk and juice.  
Harry put down his last fork, after finishing his stack of pancakes.  
"Come on, everybody, into the car." Mrs. Weasley said.  
Harry groaned, he had no idea how he was going to fit in the car.  
Mr. Weasley drove Harry, Ron, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley to King's Cross Station. (Which was a painful experience) With five minutes to spare, Harry, Ron and Ginny causally leaned against the middle of Platform 9 and 10 and they were instantly transported to Platform 9 3/4.  
They met up with Hermione who had already packed all of her things inside.  
Mrs. Weasley hugged each of them and started to babble on very fast.  
"Oh take care Harry, Hermione, you to Ron, no funny business I'm not afraid to send Howlers Ginny take care, don't let that Michael Corner boy bug you, write to me. Okay? Don't cause any trouble and don't forget to change your "  
"MUM! We know!" Ron said reddening. Mrs. Weasley hugged them for the sixth time and they walked onto the train.  
The train ride went pretty fast, talking about the O.W.L.S passed the time. After about an hour, the train came to a halt.  
Harry looked up at the beautiful, massive castle.  
He was home. 


	3. Art of Defense

**Chapter Three: Art of Defense**  
  
All the students went into the Great Hall. Harry found that most of the younger students were sitting at the tables, waiting for the feast to begin; Harry felt the same way. He was very hungry, despite his huge breakfast.  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats and talked amongst themselves.  
"I wonder who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is," Ron said.  
"Hey, maybe it's that man over there," Hermione nodded in the direction where a man who looked like he was in his mid-forties. He had brown wavy hair and looked as if he hadn't shaved in days.  
"Probably," Ron said. "I've never seen him before."  
The Great Hall became completely silent as the timid first years began to walk slowly to the front of the hall, waiting to be sorted into their houses. Harry waited patiently as the Sorting Hat sorted Briynn Adams all the way to Taylor Wallen.  
The students began to talk, when the Sorting Ceremony was over.  
Professor Dumbledore stood up. The Great Hall became pin drop silent.  
"Welcome first years! And welcome back former students!" Dumbledore said. "I know that you are all hungry, so I'm just going to say a few words; twenty-five to be exact. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be Professor Kidge."  
The man with the wavy brown hair stood up, while the Hall clapped without interest. They had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher every ever, since Harry's first year.  
"Also, once again, Mr. Flinch has reminded "  
The Great sighed with annoyance.  
" Oh well, you know! Dig in!" Dumbledore continued.  
The Hall started to laugh as the plates and goblets filled up with food and drinks. Harry and Ron ate like pigs. Hermione on the other hand wasn't eating at all.  
"What's wrong?" Ron asked. "Don't tell me it's the spew stuff again."  
"It's S.P.E.W! And no, it's not about that. I've wondering about this Professor Kidge, you know, how he's like."  
"I'd like to know too," Ron said stuffing himself with chicken. "Letss jusst hope that hess better than Umbridde." Chicken flew out of his mouth. Hermione looked disgusted as Harry laughed. He swallowed his food. "We'll find out sooner or later."  
  
It was sooner.  
After the feast, the students had all headed to their dormitories and had fallen fast asleep. The morning had come much too quickly.  
Harry and Ron, while Seamus, Dean, and Neville were getting ready, were still laying on bed wishing the sun would go down. They had went to woken up early the day before, and went to sleep way too late.  
"You guys better get up!" Seamus said throwing a pillow at Harry; he groaned.  
"Come on, guys!" Dean said.  
"Okay! Okay!" Ron said slightly getting up.  
Seamus, Dean, and Neville left the dormitory, giving up ever trying to wake up Harry and Ron.  
Harry and Ron still laid on bed for another five minutes.  
"Ron, Ron, RON!" Harry throw a pillow at him.  
"WHAT?"Ron growled.  
"We have to get up," Harry said.  
"How about another five minutes?" Ron answered.  
"How about you lazy bums get your butts out of bed?" a high pitched voice said. Harry nearly fell off his four-poster bed.  
"Hermione! What are you doing here?" Harry said rubbing his eyes and putting on his glasses, so he could see her.  
"The real question is, what are you two still doing in bed?" Hermione said throwing them their robes. "Come on, get up! Guess who we have first? Professor Kidge! Now we can see what kind of teacher he is."  
"Tell me again, why the founders of Hogwarts let girls come in the boys' dormitories?" Ron picked up his robes that Hermione had thrown to him.  
"Hurry up, you guys! I'll be in the Great Hall," Hermione said heading toward the door. "What would you do without me?"  
"We would get more sleep," muttered Ron.  
  
Harry and Ron joined Hermione in the Great Hall ten minutes later.  
"Who do we have with Kidge?" Ron asked as they sat down at the table.  
"Slytherin," Hermione said looking disgusted.  
Ron and Harry sighed. They turned around to look at the Slytherin table.  
"Draco better not give us any problems, or I'll kick in the "  
"Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes.  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited for the mail to come; Harry didn't get anything. Ron received a letter from Mrs. Weasley reminding him to wear clean underwear. Hermione got the Daily Prophet.  
"Your still subscribing to the pile of rubbish?" Harry asked. He wasn't fond of the newspaper.  
"Well, you'll never know what these people write, if you don't read it, even if it is a bunch of lies," she flipped the pages of the Daily Prophet.  
Harry looked over the Hufflepuff table. "Hey, what is everyone gathering around for?" People had started to get up and head toward the bulletin board.  
"Dunno," Hermione said also looking over to the bulletin board. "Lets go Ron?"  
Ron wasn't looking over the Hufflepuff table, but was looking at the Ravenclaw table.  
"Ron! Ron! Ronald Weasley!" Hermione said.  
Ron sprang back to life, and quickly changed the subject.  
"So..er...lets go see what everybody's talking about," he mumbled.  
The Great Hall became very loud now. People were murmuring loudly about something. Harry caught a few words about what they were talking about. "Hogsmeade, Dance, September 19th"  
"Looks like there's a dance of some kind," Harry said.  
A loud crowd had formed in front of the bulletin board. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined the crowd to see that everyone was talking about. A parchment hung on the wall.  
  
All 6th yea students are invited to celebrate the excellence done  
in the O.W.L.S at a Congratulation's dance on September 19th  
at Hogsmeade's Three Broomsticks. As this dance is for the  
excellence of the students, rule breaking will not be tolerated.  
Please dress appropriately and be accompanied by partners.  
  
Professor McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
  
"September 19th!" Hermione squealed. "That's my Birthday!"  
"We have to be accompanied be dance partner?" Harry said remembering his forth year when he asked Cho Chang to the Yule Ball. It didn't work out, the way Harry planned. "This brings back bad memories."  
Harry looked at Ron for his opinion , but Ron was in his weird trance again. He was, again, staring at someone.  
"Ron, who are you looking at?" Harry looked at the direction Ron was.  
He was staring at a very pretty girl with soft blonde hair, and green eyes. Harry had seen her before, her name was Amilynn Tronyer.  
"Well," Hermione said briskly, "what are you waiting for?" She seemed to have figured everything out.  
"W-what do you mean?" Ron said as he came back to the real world.  
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out," she said as they headed back to the Gryffindor table.  
Ron looked uneasy. "Er..." he said, "I-I don't know what your talking about."  
Hermione raised her eyebrow and smiled. "Her name is Amilynn Tronyer, but I think you already know that."  
"Er... I " Ron stammered.  
"Go ask to the dance!" Hermione said grinning.  
Ron looked at Amilynn. He shook his head. "Naw, she'd never go with me," he said bemused.  
So this was why Ron was acting so peculiar, Harry thought as he grinned. He always had the idea that Ron fancied Hermione before...  
"Oh, come on! What can go wrong?" Hermione asked; she was really serious about this.  
Another thing that was different with her this year, was that she was very calm and didn't care for the rules too much. Sure, she still had the top marks of the whole 6th year, but she much more flexible.  
"No way," Ron said. His ears were really pink.  
Harry joined the conversation. "It's not that bad," he stated. Harry grabbed an apple and took a big bite.  
"Yow know Rown," Harry tried to say as bits of apple came out of his mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry swallowed quickly. "What I'm saying is that you should just...just take a risk. What do have to lose?"  
"My dignity," Ron said.  
"Oh come on!" Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and started going to Ravenclaw table.  
"Hermione! No!" Ron said trying to pull back, but Harry was exerting force on his back. "No! Come on, you guys! STOP!" Ron struggled. "OKAY, OKAY! Fine, just stop pushing!"  
Harry and Hermione let go of him. Ron looked at them as if they were mad. "Er... I...er....can't "  
Ron made a feeble attempt to leave, but Harry grabbed a handful of his robes. "Just go! If you need help I'll come!" he said.  
"Oh yeah, just what I need, my best friend coming in the middle to save my butt." Ron said. He slowly walked toward the Ravenclaw table.  
Harry and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor table and watched Ron with interest. They couldn't hear anything, but they could definitely see what was going on.  
Ron was making stupid hand movements and his red face was glowing like a fire. Amilynn looked at Ron with a questioning look.  
"He's doing great," Harry said unconvincingly. "He can do this, he's been through worse and he's dead, isn't he?"  
Hermione nodded. Harry got up.  
"Wait here, I'm going to help Ron, if he hasn't messed up too badly," Harry sighed to Hermione and causally walked up to the Ravenclaw table. He could here Ron babbling something about cheese.  
He walked up to him. Ron, obviously, looked relived to have Harry by his side.  
"Hey, Amilynn," Harry said.  
"Hi, Harry," she replied, "er... I was just ...talking to your friend." She glanced our to Ron.  
"Yeah, er...Ron would like to ask you something. Right, Ron?"  
"Er...the... I just er... I need to....er....I well, you are don't have...er....just "  
Harry rubbed his eyes, he didn't have time for this; class was going to start any minute. The Great Hall was now completely empty except for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Amilynn.  
"Amilynn, Ron wants you to be his dance partner for the Congratulation Dance," Harry blurted out.  
Harry looked at Ron, wondering if he would be mad at him for asking Amilynn for him, but his face showed a sign of thankfulness.  
Amilynn smiled weakly, and looked at Ron.  
"Really, Ron? You want to take me to the dance?" she asked.  
Ron nodded. Amilynn bit her lip as she smiled.  
"Of course, I'd go with you," she replied. She smiled, again.  
"Okay," Ron managed to say. He voice had a daze of confusion.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sprinted to the North Tower for Defense Against the Dark Arts. All of the students were already sitting down, eager to find out how this Professor Kidge was like.  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats, they too, waiting for their new teacher to arrive.  
Professor Kidge strolled into the room minutes later. The class stared at him. He stared back. There was a long silence.  
"So, aren't we going to do anything?" Draco Malfoy sneered,  
"I'm glad you asked me that, Mr..." Professor Kidge said.  
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."  
"Malfoy," Professor Kidge repeated. "Before I answer your question, I would just like to say, that I might be the teacher, but I don't know what you are thinking. If you have a question, you should ask it. I also will probably ask you the same question you asked me again. I do it just to see how much you already know about the question you asked."  
The class stared baffled.  
"So Mr. Malfoy," Professor Kidge continued, obviously not seeing the befuddled faces of the class, "What do you think we are going to do in this class?"  
Malfoy shrugged. "Learn stuff," he said. The Slytherins giggled.  
"What kind of stuff?" Professor Kidge said. The class now knew what he was talking about, when he said that he would simply ask the same question back.  
Malfoy shrugged again.  
"Who can tell me what kind of stuff we might learn?" Professor Kidge asked. Hermione's hand raised. "Yes, Miss..."  
"Hermione Granger, sir. And I think that we will learn how to defend ourselves from the dark and evil."  
"What kind of dark and evil?" Professor Kidge asked back.  
"Er...well...er..." Hermione stammered.  
"Voldemort," Harry said automatically. He wasn't even paying attention to Hermione and or Professor Kidge. He was doodling on his parchment, and he blurted out the Dark Lord's name without knowing it.  
Many gasps filled the classroom. Neville almost fell out of his seat, and Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel let out a high squeal.  
Harry looked up at Professor Kidge, wondering how he would react to this.  
"Thank you, Mr...Potter," Professor Kidge said smiling, "couldn't have said it better myself."  
Professor Kidge walked around his desk and started pacing in between the students' desks.  
"As you all know by now, Voldemort "  
More gasps and squeals.  
"There's no need to fear the name, its only a name," Professor Kidge continued, "Voldemort is back. Dark Power might rise once again. I'm not going to hide it from you. You all have a right to know. Professor Dumbledore seems to think that it is in the right mind to teach you intense defense spells. And I completely agree with him. That's why this semester, we are going to learn defense spells."  
Harry couldn't help but smile; they had finally gotten a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who didn't have any problems.  
"Wow!" Malfoy loudly said sarcastically. "I would have never guessed!"  
The Slytherins laughed.  
"Very funny, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Kidge said, smiling. "But I don't mean feeble defense spells, but strong, powerful ones."  
The class slumped into their seats, this was of no interest to them.  
"Lets start with my favorite one...er lets have...Mr. Potter come and help me out."  
Harry sighed to himself and got up. He walked in front of the room.  
"Okay, Potter, now this isn't going to hurt too much," Professor Kidge said  
Harry could see that his classmates had instantly awoken with pleasure. He could the Slytherins faces wishing they had a camera.  
"Now, Harry when I cast a spell on you, all you have to do is perform an Angrisa spell. In this spell, you to enunciate Zambona Angrisan," Professor Kidge said. "Okay? Easy enough? Lets try then."  
The students leaned forward in their seats, waiting for Harry to get hurt. Professor Kidge got up and walked toward Harry.  
"Wand, up and ready?" Professor Kidge asked.  
Harry nodded and raised his wand.  
"One, two, three...Expelliaromus!"  
"Zambona Angrisan!" Harry cried at the same time.  
The spell didn't seem to be working. First, Harry's wand flew out of thrown hand and then he was thrown across the room.  
The Slytherins howled with laughter; Draco Malfoy the loudest of them all.  
Harry quickly got up; this was very humiliating.  
"Lets try it again," Professor Kidge acted like he hadn't seen one of his students fly over the room. "One, two, three...Expelliaromus!"  
"Zambona Angrisan!"  
Once again, Harry was pitched over the room, and the Slytherins celebrated like it was New Years Day.  
The laughter zoomed though Harry's head. He could imagine the look on Draco Malfoy's face, when he couldn't repel the spell.  
"Once more," Professor Kidge said, "this time, lets have a volunteer to go against Potter. Er...yes...Mr. Malfoy."  
Draco Malfoy made his way to the front of the classroom, with the cold smile drawn on his face.  
"Really embarrassing, Potter. Getting your butt kicked by an old man," he said quietly, "this is going to be a piece of cake."  
Harry clenched his teeth, and his grip on his wand became more tighter.  
He was angry.  
"One, two, three!" Professor Kidge said.  
"Expelliaromus!"  
"Zambona Angrisan!"  
A bright blue jet of light came out of Harry's wand. The light zapped in the air hitting Malfoy's chest. He flew into the air and was dropped harshly on the hard floor.  
The Slytherins gaped at the groaning Draco Malfoy, who was lying on the ground.  
Professor Kidge smiled. "Good job, Potter."  
The class looked around for an explanation. Once again the class was silent, except for Draco Malfoy, who was still lying on the ground, waiting for Professor Kidge to speak.  
When no one did, Hermione raised her hand once more.  
"Er...Professor, why is it that Harry couldn't block the spell before?"  
Harry wished she hadn't brought up the subject. He was trying to forget it, but he was impressed how nicely he had beat Malfoy.  
"I'm glad you asked me that, Miss Granger, I was beginning to think that the class didn't need an explanation." He got up off his desk and walked in front of the class. "The Angrisa spell is a complicated spell. I know that Potter here can conjure a Patronus, am I right?"  
Harry nodded.  
"To produce a Patronus, you need strength and happiness. An Angrisa is the complete opposite; you need weakness and sadness Now Mr. Potter is certainly not weak at all, as we all already know, but when his classmates began to laugh, anger rose beneath him, am I right?"  
Harry nodded again.  
"And when Potter was thrown across the room, he became weaker."  
The class stared at Professor Kidge.  
"Now you might be wondering what an Angrisa does. As you can see Mr. Malfoy was thrown across the room, but it's not that easy. You need to have strength in your anger, you still need to be weak, but you need to have strong anger."  
The class gaped at him.  
"It was pretty easy for Potter to overthrow Malfoy, but it won't be that easy in a real duel..." 


	4. Rising Boldness

**Chapter Four: Rising Boldness**  
  
"What in the bloody hell was I thinking?" Ron paced back and forth fiddling with his hands. "What am I going to wear?" Ron's face was getting sweaty. "What if I don't know how to dance? What "  
He stopped dead in his tracks. "W-what am I going to talk about? What was I thinking?" He said once again and sat down in the armchair next to Hermione.  
"Relax, Ron, you'll be fine," Harry said completing his two feet essay on the Art of Wand Motions and Power.  
"No, I'm not!" Ron said, there was a bit of panic in his voice.  
"Oh, Ron, would you give it rest?" Hermione said putting down a large book. "Look, all you have to do is take Amilynn out, get to know her better, and make her laugh."  
There was a pause, where Ron was thinking about this.  
"Listen, me and Harry have full confidence in you. Right Harry?" she said as she picked up an equally large book as the last, and began scanning the index.  
"Of course, just stay away from little decorated tea shops," Harry said.  
"Okay, okay," Ron sighed, "but if anything goes wrong, it will be the you two's fault!" And with these words, Ron strode off to the boys' dormitory, which was actually the girls.  
"Er, Ron, the boys' dormitory is to the left," Harry said grinning.  
"I told you I'm losing it!" Ron said and walked the right way to the boys' dormitory.  
As soon as he left, Harry and Hermione broke into laughter. The laughter died away and the pair of them went back to working on their homework.  
Most wands consist of... Harry wrote down  
Ask her... a voice and Harry's mind said.  
He looked up at Hermione who was reading the large book. Harry shook his and tried to concentrate.  
The swish and flick motion... he wrote faster.  
Come on, just ask her. Like you said, 'What do you have to lose?'...  
He looked up at Hermione again; it seemed weird, because he didn't really think of Hermione as more than a friend before.  
Harry took a big breath and started. "Er...so...er...so," Harry babbled, saying the same two words.  
"Er...so," Hermione said smiling at Harry.  
"Er...I was...if," this was harder then he thought it would be, "er...do you...er "  
"Harry, are you trying to ask me to the Congratulation Dance?"  
Harry looked up and to his relief, she was smiling.  
"Er...yes," Harry finally managed to say.  
Hermione laughed.  
She thinks I'm a loser! He thought to himself.  
"Are you just asking me because all the other girls turned you down?" Hermione asked still smiling.  
"What, no, no, actually, you were the first girl I asked," Harry said blushing.  
"No way," Hermione said.  
"Oh, er, that's okay, if you don't want to go," Harry said taken aback. He got up and started for the boy's dormitory. "Er...Good Night "  
"Harry, I didn't mean 'no way' as in I don't want to go, I meant 'no way' as in I can't believe you asked me," Hermione said smiling.  
"Oh I er, so do you want to go with me?" Harry asked feeling extremely stupid.  
Hermione, still smiling, nodded and said, "Sure."  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way down to the Great Hall, for lunch. The 6th years talked excitedly about the dance. Every face in the hall had a smile stretched across their face, everyone except Ron.  
"Oh, cheer up, Ron!" Hermione said, opening the presents Harry and Ron had given her for her birthday. "Amilynn's like the sweetest girl ever. She'll understand if something goes wrong."  
Ron stared at her with his mouth open.  
"Oh! Er...not that anything is going to go wrong," she quickly added.  
Ron sighed. "Yeah, yeah, okay," he said slowly.  
Hermione got up and smiled earnestly at Ron. "Trust me. I'm going to go get ready, see you two in a while."  
"Get ready?" Harry said. "We still have an hour and a half left."  
"Well, it takes longer for a girl," Hermione said gathering her stuff. "See you."  
  
"All you have to, like Hermione said, is just ask her to dance "  
"BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW!" Ron interrupted.  
"Talk to her in a mature way," Harry continued ignoring Ron's last comment.  
He grabbed some hair gel, and passed to Ron. He was helping him get ready for the dance.  
Ron was very nervous. He kept shaking like crazy, whenever anyone mentioned the dance, and kept making lame excuses. One time, he even suggested to himself, that he should leave the school grounds on his broomstick, like Fred and George had done in their previous year.  
"Make her laugh, but no corny jokes, and oh yeah, if Amilynn want to talk about her old boyfriend, if she had one, don't say that you want to talk about something else."  
"Oh god! There's so much to remember," Ron said playing with his hair. "Can you tell me if this looks okay?"  
Ron moved away from the mirror and faced Harry. He gave a cheesy smile to him, which looked like a desperate sign of help.  
"Er...yeah...er, you look great," Harry said smiling weakly. Ron turned back to the mirror.  
"So, Harry, who are you going with?" Ron asked, still playing with his hair.  
Harry looked up at him. He wondered what Ron would think, if he told him that he'd asked Hermione.  
"Oh...er, I asked...er...Hermione," Harry repeated quickly.  
Ron looked at Harry. "Hermione? W-wait our Hermione? Hermione Granger?" Ron asked shocked.  
Harry nodded, trying to look causal.  
Ron smiled weakly. "Oh, that's...cool." It didn't sound like it was too cool to Ron...  
  
The 6th year students (not including the girls) once again met in the Great Hall an hour later. The guys stood around the Hall negotiating with one another. Ignoring the notice, they were all wearing a simple shirt, and dirty pants, as if they didn't care what they were wearing.  
Harry walked through the crowd. He started looking for a glimpse for Ron and Hermione. Ron had gone to the Great Hall twenty minutes before, not wanting Amilynn to wait for him. With his flaming red hair, Ron wasn't hard to find.  
"Hey, Ron, have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked looking around  
"Nope, have you seen Amilynn?"  
"No, they're still getting ready, you know how girls are."  
Harry and Ron talked more about the weird things girls do, for another five minutes, until Hermione and Amilynn Tronyer arrived. They both looked very pretty. Amilynn was wearing a pretty blue blouse and a skirt, her hair was tied up in a ponytail. Hermione was also wearing a pretty blouse and a skirt, but her hair was down and loose. But this didn't really matter, because Harry and Ron were boys, they didn't notice this.  
"Hey, Amilynn, Hermione," Harry said. He nudged Ron.  
"Oh, er, hi," Ron said. Harry rolled his eyes to Professor McGonagall who was writing everyone's name down on her checklist.  
"Your attention, please," Professor McGonagall said clapping her hands. The Great Hall fell silent. She had counted up all the students, and they were ready to go. "We will now go to Hogsmeade, be on your best behavior. Okay? Lets go then."  
  
When they got to the Three Broomsticks, it was decorated beautifully with a huge table in the middle. The table held many luscus treats of all kinds, stacks upon stacks of rich chocolates, scrumptious, tender meats, and all the refreshments lined up near the huge punch bowl.  
Harry raised his brows; he wasn't aware how hungry he was. He slowly walked away to the group, towards the table, while Professor McGonagall set the rules.  
Hermione grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"  
"Er..." Harry said, looking back at the food table. "I was hungry!"  
Hermione snorted, and rolled her eyes.  
Professor McGonagall's lecture was finally over, and the music started. The students stood awkwardly around the dance floor. A few brave souls started dancing, and soon, everyone began.  
Harry and Hermione looked at Ron to see how he was doing. Apparently, he had just asked Amilynn Tronyer to dance, and it looked like it was going pretty good.  
"So, Hermione," Harry shouted to her; it was really loud. "Er, do you want to dance?"  
"Sure," she shouted back.  
The two of them danced, until the song was over. Everyone clapped and many returned to their seats; all of them had become tired after dancing for so long.  
Harry and Hermione went to the food table to get some refreshments. Harry went down to the end of the table to get some cookies, while Hermione was on the other side getting punch.  
"Well, well, well," sneered a voice. Draco Malfoy was standing behind Hermione. "so, Granger, I hear you came with scar face." Pansy Parkinson laughed. "Is it true?"  
"What if it is?" Hermione sneered back "Why do you care who I came with?"  
"I was only wondering who the unlucky guy is," Malfoy said cooly. Pansy laughed again.  
Hermione turned around trying to ignore them; she wasn't going to let them ruin the dance for her...  
"Come on, Granger," Pansy Parkinson teased, "we just want to know what kind of bet Potter lost."  
Hermione spun around. "The bet was," she started, "that whoever could make Pansy Parkinson look and act like a lady, wouldn't have to take me to the dance! And guess what? They both lost!" She stomped off to a table, leaving Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy flabbergasted.  
Harry, who was still stuffing himself with cookies, now went down to the end of the table to get a cup of punch.  
"Okay, this is what we do," Harry heard Draco Malfoy say quietly to Pansy Parkinson. Malfoy's voice got so quiet, that Harry couldn't hear one word he said...  
Harry made his way to the table, where Hermione was sitting. He sat down. "I think Malfoy is up to something," he told her.  
"Oh, he's always up to Harry are you okay?"  
Harry held his stomach and his forehead tightly. His stomach seemed to be growling out of control, and his scar burning.  
"M-my scar is hurting, and I-I think I ate too many cookies!" Harry got up and walked to the bathroom.  
Hermione looked after him, grinning, and at the same time looking dumfounded. She continued to look at the students who were dancing until...  
SPLASH!  
A familiar laughter came from behind Hermione, for Draco Malfoy had just dropped all the punch on Hermione's head.  
The students who were dancing now took a look at Hermione; the whole room started laughing. Hermione looked around the room, she couldn't stand it. With her eyes sparking with tears, she dashed out of the room.  
At the same time Hermione had left, Harry came back from the bathroom. The laughter raised, the Slytherins rolling around with enjoyment.  
Harry went straight to Ron, who was talking with Amilynn Tronyer. Unlike everyone else, they weren't smiling at all.  
"Ron, what happened?" Harry asked quickly.  
"I dunno, one minute everything was fine and the next, Hermione just dashed out of the room.  
"I bet Malfoy had something to do with this," Harry said.  
Harry walked over to where Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle were wallowing in laughter.  
"Malfoy," Harry spat.  
Draco Malfoy got up, this time, he wasn't laughing. "You got something to say to me Potter?"  
"Yeah, I've got something to say," Harry said. Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy were now up too.  
"So Potter, what is it? Malfoy asked.  
"No one," Harry said cooly. "No one deserves that on their Birthday, not even you. But unfortunately, for you, it's not your Birthday." Harry swung his fist into Malfoy's face, and slowly walked out of the Three Broomsticks.  
Harry walked down Hogsmeade, it had gotten very dark. He kept walking until he saw Hermione sitting on a bench, wiping her eyes. He sat down next to her.  
"Sorry," he said slowly, not looking at her  
Hermione looked up. A lot of her makeup had came off, and it was dried on her face. Her hair had become sticky and wet, still she looked very pretty.  
"Oh, Harry, why are you sorry? You didn't do anything." Harry didn't know what to say, why was he so sorry?  
Hermione got up. "Well, I guess I'm just going to back now...er..."  
"I'll come with you," he said. He didn't feel like going back to dance. After what he did to Malfoy, he wouldn't be surprised if Malfoy had told on him.  
"Oh, you don't have to," Hermione said looking at him carefully.  
"Er...I'll just come..." he said, still not looking directly at her.  
They walked down the path in silence. Harry was so amazed how nervous he was; he was never really nervous around Hermione. She was one of his best friends...  
A clap of thunder filled the sky, tiny droplets of water began falling ground, and heavy winds swopped Hogsmeade. Hermione shivered. Harry thought how cold she must be. He took off his jacket and handed it to Hermione, causally.  
She looked up at him. "What's this?"  
"Er...you must be cold," he said. It was a good thing that it was dark and raining, because Harry was blushing and sweating like crazy.  
Hermione took the jacket and put it on. They kept walking.  
"Harry," Hermione said quietly, "why did you ask me to the dance? Tell the truth, okay?"  
Harry took a moment to consider this. "I dunno. I guess you're just...er...always there for me, and always by my side and er...you've really changed, I mean you're way more flexible about the rules and you're really helpful. I-I like that about you." Hermione snorted and smiled broadly.  
The pair of them kept walking until they reached the Gryffindor common room. They both were exhausted from walking in bad weather. The common room was quiet and peaceful. All of the other students had fallen asleep, and Harry was sure that the 6th years would be returning soon.  
Harry and Hermione stood awkwardly by the fireplace, each one waiting for the other to say something.  
"So "Harry said.  
"I " Hermione said at the same exact time. They both fell silent. "So...er...well I'll see you later, I guess."  
Harry nodded.  
She turned on her heel and walked until she got to the stairs.  
"Oh, yeah, I forgot to give you your jacket back."she took it off, and handed it to Harry.  
Harry stared in amazement, like she had just handed him a knife and asked him to kill Ron. Hermione looked at him bemused for a few seconds and then slowly left for the Girl's Dormitory.  
Harry stood, still staring at the jacket. A jolt of boldness exploded inside of him. He ran. He ran up the stairs and to the dormitories.  
"Hermione!" he called. "Hermione, wait up!"  
Hermione spun around, her brows raised. "Yeah, Harry, what is it?"  
"Er..." Harry tried to speak. He rubbed the back of his sweaty neck. "I-I forgot to give you something too." His voice was getting higher as if he was scared.  
Hermione looked at Harry in a funny way. Confused and not knowing what Harry was talking about.  
Harry slowly and gently reached over and touched Hermione's soft cheek with his hand. Slowly and steadily, he moved closer to her face... 


	5. Date with Snape

**Chapter Five: Date with Snape  
**  
The sun rose with such brightness, that the whole school woke up early. All of the 6th year students talked excitedly about yesterday's dance. However, Harry wasn't one of those students. He didn't even want to mention the dance...  
"Harry, mate, where did you go?" Ron asked during breakfast. "Hermione, what happened to you? Where did you go?" Harry and Hermione didn't answer back. They twiddled with their forks, in their food, and didn't look up.  
When Harry nor Hermione answered, Ron continued, "I had the best time with Amilynn! It was so awesome! During the end of the dance, Amilynn said she had a great time and she said I was a great guy! Can you believe it? A girl, a real girl, likes me! Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you the best part, she she gave me kiss! Okay, it was only on the cheek, but still..." Ron inhaled. "So, what did you guys do?"  
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "Er... I have to er go to the...somewhere..." Hermione said not looking at Harry. She got up and left.  
Ron looked at Harry for an explanation, but he just smiled weakly and shrugged. "So, let me go on," Ron continued, "Amilynn comes up to me "  
"Er...Ron, how about you tell me later," Harry said gathering his things. "I have to go see Professor McGonagall about the O.W.L.S"  
Harry wasn't lying. He really did have to go see Professor McGonagall about the O.W.L.S. She had told him to meet her in her office, before the dance. Harry knew exactly what she wanted with him.  
"Er... Professor," Harry knocked on Professor McGonagall's open door. "Did you want to see me?"  
"Yes, Potter," she said peering though her glasses. "You might recall that last year, I said that I will coach you day and night until you become an Auror?"  
Harry nodded. Professor McGonagall was very anger at Umbridge that day, and promised Harry that she would work until he became one.  
"You didn't get what you needed in your O.W.L.S. for Potions, Potter," she reminded him.  
Harry wished she hadn't told him that again. He already had a lot to worry about...  
"Potter, I was dead serious, I'm going to help you become one if it is the last thing I do!" she stood up and walked over the Harry. "Potter, I have arranged potion torturing for you with Professor Snape."  
Harry's jaw dropped. How could she be doing this to him? He hated Snape, and Snape hated him. "But Professor "  
"Potter, not may students get this opportunity. You are considered lucky, other students don't get second chances." Professor McGonagall explained.  
"But I " Harry tried to argue.  
"Potter! You are doing it!" she overruled. She sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, Potter, I know that you're not in the happiest mood of your life, but...I'm sure that...they...would have want you to do it. For your own good."  
Harry looked at her, and nodded. She was right. His Mum, Dad, and Sirius would have want his to do it. To succeed. "Professor Snape will see you every Tuesday. He will tell you everything you need to know." Professor McGonagall finished.  
  
Harry walked down to the Fat Lady. He was angry. He didn't care if he was the only one who got to improve his grade. He didn't care if didn't become an Auror. He didn't care what his parents of Sirius thought. They were dead.  
  
"Hey, Mate," Ron said as Harry came down and fell in the armchair. "What did McGonagall want?"  
Harry sighed. "She wants me to take extra Potion classes to improve my O.W.L.S results."  
Ron gaped at him. "Can they do that?"  
"I guess so," Harry said dully.  
"That's great!" Ron exclaimed.  
Harry gapped at him. "What? Why?"  
"Harry, no one get second chances. Consider yourself lucky." Ron said really seriously. "You are the luckiest guy, mate."  
Harry snorted. "I'm not even close to the luckiest guy, Ron, I so much crap to deal with."  
Ron put his books down and leaned forward, eager to hear what Harry was going about on.  
"First, everyone expects me to be this all powerful wizard, and they think that I have absolutely no flaws or problems. Second, this most feared wizard is out to kill me. Third, I have no parental references at all. Everyone who part of my family are dead, and they will never come back," Harry could hear his voice rising with anger, and the other students standing up to see what the commotion was about. "Dumbledore told the most frightening thing I could hear last year, and on top of all that, yesterday I " Harry caught himself, before he could tell Ron about Hermione and him.  
"Calm down, mate," Ron said. "Listen, I didn't know it was like that."  
"Well, now you do." Harry said quietly and sat down.  
"Hey, I'm glad you told me," Ron said. "Listen, I just want you to know, that I will always be by you no matter what," Harry smiled at his best friend.  
  
The amount of homework given to the students increased now that the fun was over. Each teacher kept reminding them that N.E.W.T.S year was this year, and they need to work hard. (This wasn't a surprise to the students.) The teachers stacked homework over homework.  
Professor McGonagall had assigned essays on transfiguring butterflies back to their original state. Professor Binns had also assigned essays, but they had to write about the famous witches and wizards of the 19th -21st centaury. (Which was wired for Harry, because he knew that he would be writing about himself.) Professor Snape, on the other hand, wasn't given out much homework, Harry guessed that he was he was saving his energy for him.  
Harry couldn't even copy the essay from Hermione anymore. It had been two days since Harry had given Hermione the kiss, and neither of them had spoken a word to each other; they were just to shy. Ron couldn't shut up.  
"She was just saying how she Harry? Harry?" Ron said waving his hand in front of Harry's face.  
Harry shook his head. "Er...yeah, sure." His mind had been somewhere else...  
"Harry, what's wrong with you?" Ron said putting down his quill. "You've been acting very odd Harry! Is it You-Know-Who?"  
Harry snorted. "Voldemort? My problem is way more complicated then Voldemort."  
Ron flinched at his name, and then recovered. "Harry what's up? Come on, tell me!" Ron pressured.  
"It's nothing, really." Harry picked up a book and started reading it (upside down.)  
Ron got up, walked over to Harry, and snatched the book out of his hands. "Harry! I'm your best friend, if you're not going to tell me, who are you going to tell?"  
Harry stared at him, and then looked down at his feet. "I-I kissed her."  
Ron's brow raised. "That's it? You kissed a girl?" Ron exhaled and fell onto the couch. "Harry, you've kissed before. Why did you take so long to tell me?" Ron picked up a water bottle and took a long sip. "So, who was it?"  
Harry knew that Ron was his best friend, and he knew that he could tell him anything, but he also knew that he couldn't tell him this.  
"So, er...who was the famous wizard of the 20th centaury?" Harry said looking down at Professor Binns's essay, trying to change the subject.  
"Er...I don't know," Ron said sarcastically, "maybe a sixteen year old wizard named...er what is his name...oh yeah, Harry Potter! And why are you changing the subject? Tell me!" Ron shouted.  
"Er..." Harry said for a long time.  
"Come on! Is it someone I know?"  
"Er...maybe," Harry said breathlessly.  
The Portrait of the Fat Lady swung open. Hermione entered the common room.  
"Hello, Ron," she said. She looked over at Harry. "Er...h-hello, Harry."  
"Hi," Harry said. He just gotten very interested in the mold growing on the floor, and was staring at it, fascinated.  
There was an awkward silence between them. Harry kept staring at the mold, while Hermione just stood there looking up the ceiling. Ron took a long sip out of his water bottle, as he looked from Harry to Hermione and back to Harry, again.  
Then, he finally understood. He spit all the water out, gagging and spraying Harry. Ron jolted his head towards Hermione and Harry. "D was you Herm Did you..." Ron couldn't find the right words. "I-It was Hermione?"  
  
Harry walked down to Snape's room, at Noon on Tuesday. He dragged himself down to the room, and knocked on the door.  
"Potter?" Snape's voice called. "Come in."  
Harry sighed. He wouldn't have come if Ron and Hermione had pushed him into it. He pushed open the door. Snape was sitting down on his desk.  
"Close the door, Potter," Snape said without looking up.  
Harry closed the door. He was going to die in here, and nobody would know. Snape would confiscate his body, and tell the school that he ran away from school, and was now a sanitary engineer. Harry shook his head forcefully, and closed the door. He really had to stop making up these bizarre predictions.  
Harry took a seat, and stared at Snape, who was still scribbling away. He wished he would say something, the silence was killing him.  
"Potter," Snape said, still scribbling on his quill. "You know how lucky you are? Nobody gets these chances."  
Harry nodded. Yes, he had known this, he had heard this a million times. Snape finally put his quill down and looked at Harry. "Potter, I should warn you, this is going to be hard...for you." This was no surprise for Harry; he stank at Potions. "You can barley do basic Potions, and I don't have any idea how you are going to O.W.L.S. Potions." Harry stared hard at Snape. How he hated him. "Take out a parchment and quill. Lets get started."  
The next few hours was like a living hell, for Harry. Snape didn't make anything easy. He was always breathing down Harry's neck, and kept telling him that he was a complete idiot. Harry was never going back, but then he thought back to what Professor McGonagall and Ron had told him. _"No one get second chances. Consider yourself lucky."_ He had no choice, but to stick with it.  
  
Harry pulled himself back to the Gryffindor common. Ron and Hermione were sitting at the desks finishing their homework. Harry walked over and dropped down to the sit next to them.  
"So, how was it?" Hermione asked. After blowing their secret to Ron, Harry and Hermione were more comfortable around each other, now. Ron had insisted them to tell him why they hadn't told him earlier, but they just said that they were scared at how he would react. The only thing Ron was scared of is seeing his two best friends snogging at breakfast.  
Harry gave her a I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it look. "Oh," Hermione said. "It was_ that_ great."  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione finished up their essays for Professor McGonagall, and then decided that they would visit Hagrid. They hadn't been down at his house in a while.

* * *

Hi, everyone!! This is my first fanfic and **I would really, really like it if you would review!!! Please!!!** If you review mine, I'll review yours!!! Remember: The ones who review, always succeed!!! I HAVE NO REVIEWS YET!! 

-AshleyPotter13


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